The High Court sitting in Eldoret has sentenced a woman and her lover to 30 years’ imprisonment for the murder of her estranged husband, Geoffrey Matenje.
Melisa Muhinda and her boyfriend, Samuel Amatuka, were each given a 30-year prison sentence for the 2018 murder of Matenje, who worked as a newspaper vendor in Eldoret.
The crime took place on October 6, 2018, at their residence in the Kamukunji estate in Eldoret. Muhinda conspired with Amatuka, a boda boda rider, to cause the death of her husband.
Following the murder, the perpetrators placed the dismembered body into a sack and loaded it onto a motorcycle for transportation to the disposal site. However, watchful neighbours intercepted the bike.
Justice Reuben Nyakundi stated that the presented evidence strongly suggests the central involvement of both defendants in the carefully planned murder.
“The circumstantial evidence presented undeniably places both convicts at the centre of the murder. The deceased was only a victim of grotesque crime executed in a series of assault and disposal of the body. His body was dismembered and put in a gunny bag ready for disposal,” he said.
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Justice Nyakundi specifically mentioned Amatuka’s trip from Lodwar to Eldoret, which he believed was solely for the purpose of committing the crime, possibly under Muhinda’s direction. He also pointed out that the defendants were aware of the truth regarding Matenje’s murder but chose to withhold it from the court.
The judge also found it puzzling that Amatuka, a family man with two wives and children in school, would be compelled to journey to Eldoret to commit murder on behalf of his friend.
“During the incident, you were a man of good health and stability and did not have any history of offence. In your heart and spirit, you bear the greatest truth, which was never told to this court on what happened on that material day,” he said.
Justice Nyakundi rejected Muhinda’s plea for a non-custodial sentence, despite her explanation that she is an orphan and has three children who are in need of a caregiver, saying the state will prioritise the welfare of the minors.
— By Ann Precious Kinyua
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